Opposition Member of Parliament, Viliame Naupoto claims the much hyped “Restore Blue”
concept touted by Minister for Home Affairs, Pio Tikoduadua is not working.
Naupoto in a statement said the sharp rise in crime and drug cases as mentioned by the Acting Commissioner of Police is indicating that there is something very wrong within the Fiji Police Force and he fears that it is not of their own doing.
He claims this is the result of interference of Politicians into the affairs of the Fiji Police.
“When this happens, the voice of Politicians drowns out the voice of the ordinary people who are crying out for help because of the state of lawlessness in the country.”
“In the Restore Blue Symposium held late last year, Minister Tikoduadua was reported saying, “The theme of this conference is to get the Police to answer only to the law…because in the past, the police have had so many masters including politicians.”
“These are the words of someone who had instigated the suspension of the Commissioner of Police (COMPOL), and the Ministers reason for the initial call for resignation and later suspension (because the former COMPOL did not resign) was that former Commissioner of Police was too close to the previous Government.”
“I also called him out when he directly interfered with Police operations during the Reclaim the Night march on the 8 th of March 2023.”
“If the two cases that I have highlighted above are not Political interference, then what is?
“I see very bad signs indicating that the top echelon of the Fiji Police is becoming politically aligned to the Government of the day.”
“This is not good for the Fiji Police force now and into the future.”
Naupoto said the Fiji Police Force should never be politically aligned to the Government of the day, but they should be operationally aligned to the policies of the Government of the day.
“This ensures that they remain apolitical and they will apply the law impartially.”
“The Minister should be reminded that the Fiji Police Force is a Law Enforcement Agency and not a political entity. His job as a Minister is to resource the Fiji Police to enable them to do what they are required to do,” he further stated.
